Last week a group of 16-18 year old female students attended a workshop at Skills for Security’s training centre as introduction to the security industry and its possible careers.
The workshop on Wednesday 4th March in Birmingham was a great success. From what started with one student interested in a career in the security industry to, by the end of the day 90% of the students reporting that the security industry would be a good career choice and a definite consideration.
Throughout March and April 2015 Skills for Security is working with local schools to deliver a series of workshops as part of the Skills Funding Agency Equality and Diversity Fund, the aim, to highlight the security industry and careers to female students but to also get feedback about their views on the industry in order to develop a mentor programme and produce a ‘toolkit’ of best practice available to employers, schools and training providers to assist them in attracting and retaining females into the industry.
The majority of students attending the workshop reported that they hadn’t considered the security as a career choice as it was male dominated and there was of a fear of not ‘fitting in’.
At the end of the session 80% of the students were either interested in work experience, a career or an apprenticeship in the security industry.
Student comments included:
“The workshop has given me an insight to the type of jobs I would like to do”
“Today has given me a greater ambition in working in the industry as I have learnt there is a lot more to it than just being a body guard.”
Terri Jones, Director General at Skills for Security commented:
As a new entrant to the security sector I too was unaware of the breadth of opportunities available. We have developed a range of progression pathways to promote the individual careers to schools and ensure that girls are considering jobs ranging from guarding to the development of bio-metric security systems.
The workshop which consisted of an introduction, 2 practical sessions and a guest female speaker from the security industry resulted in great feedback from the students but also in a short space of time the Skills for Security team were able to address many of the misconceptions the students had about the industry and really emphasise that there are a huge array of career opportunities available.